


Tatterdemalion

by seraphichan



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Witch Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 23:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10729062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphichan/pseuds/seraphichan
Summary: When Erwin reached the peak of the mountain Levi was already standing in the doorway of his hut, arms folded across his chest.“Back again?”“Yes.”





	Tatterdemalion

The trek up the mountain was as arduous as he remembered, but Erwin was prepared for what was at the peak this time.

Or so he hoped.

The price for a spell was not clear cut. There was no starting cost based on the nature and power of it, or how it might be used. There was only estimation and uncertainty.

The first time Erwin came he did not realize this. He had brought a sack of gold, thinking that currency would be an acceptable currency. Levi - or The Tiny Witch as most people called him, though Erwin was certain he shouldn’t call Levi that to his face - had sneered at him and told him to leave. Perplexed, Erwin went back down the mountain. Was it not enough? He returned a few days later with double the gold and was met with the same reaction.

“But why?” Erwin asked.

“That shit’s worthless,” Levi answered and slammed the door in Erwin’s face.

Afterwards, Erwin took to the village in the valley of the mountain and asked around. What was Levi after? What payment would suffice? And how could Erwin obtain it?

The answers were as varied as they were odd.

One person had brought him a mirror, a family heirloom that had been passed down in the family for generations. So something old perhaps? Or something of sentimental value? Erwin had heard of some witches drawing power from such items.

Another person, however, said that they merely picked up a rock from outside of the witch’s door and placed it in his palm.

“When I told him I didn’t have anything of value he said ‘Depends on what you define as valuable. Anything not already in my possession could be a boon’. So I gave him the rock.”

“And you got your spell?”

“Sure did.”

“And it worked?”

“Like a charm.”

Yet another person had told him a story of a boy who went up the mountain and gave Levi a kiss. He was a baron now, apparently.

At the end of the day Erwin was left stunned and confused and incredibly frustrated, and no closer to finding answers to his questions than he was before.

“You’re overthinking it,” an old man chuckled at him later that night as he ate his meal at the local tavern. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

Erwin was skeptical, but considering it was the most sound advice he had received all day - despite it being vague at best - he decided to give it a try. He left the village and the mountain behind the next day, determined not to return until he had what he needed.

And so here he was again, nearly two months later.

When Erwin reached the peak of the mountain Levi was already standing in the doorway of his hut, arms folded across his chest.

“Back again?”

“Yes.”

He stared at Erwin a long while before holding out his hand. Erwin stepped forward and took a bundled cloth from his pack. He placed it in Levi’s hand, the contents of it clinking as he did so, and watched as Levi raised a curious brow. He weighed the object in his hand for a few moments then untied the cloth, his eyebrows steadily rising on his forehead as he examined what was inside.

It was a cup. Small, made of clay, and broken into pieces.

Erwin had acquired it at a market on the other side of the kingdom. He had actually been glancing at the wares of a different stall when he had heard the crash of the cup on the cobbled street. The vendor had looked at him like he was mad when he rushed over and offered to pay double for it, but they didn’t refuse the coins Erwin pressed into their hands.

At the time Erwin was confident that this was the object he needed.

“You brought me a fucked up cup?”

But he was having his doubts now.

“Yes.”

Levi sighed and retied the cloth. Erwin thought he might throw it back at Erwin, but instead he tucked it inside his robe and gestured for Erwin to come in.

“So, what kind of spell did you want?”


End file.
